Grandma’s Marathon Training

June 16th I will be running Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota.

This will be my third marathon and the second time running Grandma’s.

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I have been diligently training since the beginning of February and surprisingly I am almost half-way through my the plan.

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I was even good about running while in Hawaii! I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to run in shorts and a tank top every day! (I can’t even do that in the summer here.) I absolutely loved sweating it out every day and then jumping in the pool afterward.

Plus, I loved exploring the area on foot. I got to experience and see so many things I never would have never noticed otherwise.

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For this marathon, I am following the 2012 Advanced Marathon Training Plan from the Grandma’s Marathon website.

It is a pretty intense plan that peaks at 70 miles, with 6-7 days of running, and includes a 24-miler! When I ran my marathon last year, I peaked at 60 miles for the week, and I’ve already hit 60 miles this training plan, so I’m feeling pretty confident I will be that much stronger for this marathon.

I’ve changed things up a little here and there—changing the long run from Sunday to Saturday and rearranging mileage slightly based on my schedule—but otherwise, I have been sticking to the plan.

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I’ve been keeping track of all my mileage in my Runner’s World Training Journal. I enjoy documenting everything by hand and love the layout of this log book.

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Overall, my marathon training has been going very well: I haven’t been injured and I have not gotten sick yet (knock on wood). There have been periods of being tired, but I usually get a day off right when I need it and bounce back pretty quickly.

I am feeling very good about the progress I’ve made so far, and I’m hoping this time I can qualify for Boston!

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Last night I ran outside in the sun!

I was supposed to go to the Skinny Raven Running Club at The Dome (the indoor track) and complete a speed workout, but there was a track meet going on, so I had to change my plans. This was actually a good thing for my plan because I was supposed to do an easy run instead of a track workout anyway.

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I ran 7 miles in 1:01, which isn’t stellar, but it is okay these days.

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The roads are finally starting to dry up, but now all the snow is melting and I have to dodge the water puddles.

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Another good thing about the snow melting: I can finally get paid to run. 😉 (Money I found on my run.)

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Overall, the run was okay. I always have a bloated stomach in the evening. (I am trying to figure out why: for a long time I thought it was something I was eating but now I’m thinking it is from stress.) Whatever the reason, my bloated stomach makes running in the afternoon/evening very uncomfortable. The bloat wasn’t horrible last night, but still not all that enjoyable.

Anyway, today is a rest day. I already went to yoga this morning and have a massage right after work today. 🙂

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Question

If you are training for something, share what you are training for and how it’s going!

 

Hi, I'm Michelle

I love running around the lakes of Minnesota, running after my two boys, and racing anything from the 5K to the marathon. I have been blogging here since 2010 when I ran my first marathon. I finally secured my sub-3 hour marathon after trying for 8 years.

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0 Comments

  1. 4.13.12
    Melissa said:

    I suffer from afternoon/evening stomach bloat. I went to gastrointerologist and they tested me for celiacs disease (came back negative), Lactos (negative) and small bacterial intestional overgrowth (positive). Bascially, my stomach can’t handle the good bacteria I put into it and it creates a lot of bloat. I also find that if I consume too much protein at one time, it also creates painful bloat.

    In order to keep the bloat at bay for the most part, (I still get bloat, maybe 2-3 times a week still, but that is MUCH better from the 7 days a week before) I try to eat certain foods in order. For instance, if I am going to have a salad, yogurt and apple for lunch, I have to have my yogurt before my apple no matter what. The acid and fiber in the apple will instantly give me bloat and the yogurt gives my stomach a coating so that the apple can be digested a little more easily and less painful.

    I normally work out during my lunch break at work and on a really tough workout I may have 8oz of a protein shake when I am done. If I eat my yogurt too close to when I had the protein shake, I am in the worst pain for the rest of the day. Also, do you find it hard to eat dinner when you have the bloat? My husband gets so upset because I won’t want to eat dinner because I am so uncomfortable.

    I hope it gets better and happy marathon training!

    • 4.13.12
      Michelle said:

      Yeah! I’m so glad someone can sympathize with me because I’m pretty sure my husband thinks I’m crazy.

      I, too, don’t think I have celiacs disease (or even a gluten-intolerant) or lactose-intolerant, which is why I can’t figure it out.

      I’ll have to experiment with the order in which I eat my food to see if that makes a difference.

      Thanks so much for the information.

  2. 4.13.12
    Yolanda said:

    I ran my first half last month on Maui and posted it a day or so ago. :-). That was my training….but still in the training mode to simply run father and faster.

  3. 4.13.12
    Lauren said:

    Man, you crazy distance runners… 🙂 I’ve never run more than a half and can’t imagine doing more! And 7 miles in just over an hour sounds amazing to me! My time for my 1/2 was 1:58. Granted, it was extremely hilly… but still!
    And you’ll be running in the sunshine all the time soon enough- and during the daytime on weekdays! YES!

    • 4.13.12
      Michelle said:

      For the longest time, I could not imagine running anything more than a half-marathon! After a half, I’d get done and think, “there is NO way I could retrace my steps and run the distance again!”

      Yes, running in sunshine every day is going to be amazing this summer! 🙂

  4. 4.13.12

    That’s awesome! I’m training for the Mayor’s Marathon (in Anchorage!) which is on June 23rd. Training is good well so far. I’m getting very excited.

    I had a week or 2 of bloat about a month ago and finally determined that it was because of the high-fiber cereal that I had started eating. Apparently, I didn’t need that much fiber. Maybe it’s something like that?

    • 4.13.12
      Michelle said:

      I don’t think it is just one food item because I’ve had this bloat for a couple of years now. 🙁